CLOSING ARGUMENTS 77
NEW JERSEY COPS
In Search of…
Long Hill Township PD continues to look
for missing Wall Street Journalist
The Long Hill Township Police Department continues to investigate the disappearance of one of its residents. David
Bird, a reporter
for the Wall
Street Journal,
left his Millington home on
Jan. 11, after
telling his wife
he was going
for a short walk.
A few hours
later, Bird was
reported missing to police
and has not
been heard from since.
David Bird is 55 years old, 6-foot-1 and
approximately 210 pounds. He was last
seen wearing a distinct bright red jacket
with two yellow zippers. He is a Boy Scout
Troop Leader, distance walker and recently completed the New York City Marathon.
When he left his home at approximately
4:30 p.m., he left behind his cell phone and
his daily medication that is needed due to
a liver transplant he had nearly 10 years
ago.
During the past several weeks, detailed
searches of vast areas have been conducted. Searches have included the buildings
and land surrounding Bird’s residence, as
well as large portions of the Passaic River,
sections of the National Great Swamp
Wildlife Refuge and walking trails in Morris and Somerset Counties. Searches were
conducted using multiple K-9 units in various locations, but deteriorating weather
conditions hindered the ability of the K-9
units to positively identify a location or
direction of travel.
Hundreds of volunteers participated in
an extensive visual search conducted on
foot, including wooded areas and locations along the roadway where he may
have traveled. Law enforcement personnel on horseback and ATVs covered
numerous miles of pathways battling
thick underbrush. The New Jersey State
Police helicopter provided aerial coverage
on multiple occasions.
The extensive search included areas
Bird was known to travel. Many of those
locations are near the Passaic River that
surrounds Long Hill Township on three
sides of its borders. The Passaic River flows
rapidly in several areas, making the search
for Bird even more difficult. Approximately 50 to 60 members from several
water rescue teams responded to the area
and conducted underwater search operations in various areas of the river.
The search has benefitted from intelligence gathering, which led to following up
on leads and reported sightings. A detailed
intelligence search of Bird’s personal
records has been conducted by law
enforcement professionals of the Morris
County Prosecutors Office.
“At this point of the investigation we
have no reason to believe that foul play is
involved, but it’s not going to be ruled out.”
said Lieutenant Ahmed Naga.
Several different Missing Persons
Posters have been made and posted in
and around Long Hill Township by the Citizens Emergency Response Team. Members of Bird’s family have appeared on
several local news broadcasts requesting
anyone with information to contact the
Long Hill Township Police Department at
908-647-1800.
“We will not stop searching for Mr. Bird
until a logical